Audio and Podcasting Fact Sheet

The audio news sector in the U.S. is split by modes of delivery: traditional terrestrial (AM/FM) radio and digital formats such as online radio and podcasting. While terrestrial radio reaches almost the entire U.S. population and remains steady in its revenue, online radio and podcasting audiences have continued to grow over the last decade. Explore the patterns and longitudinal data about audio and podcasting below. Data on public radio is available in a separate fact sheet.

Audience

The audience for terrestrial radio remains steady and high: In 2016, 91% of Americans ages 12 or older listened to terrestrial radio in a given week, according to Nielsen Media Research data published by the Radio Advertising Bureau, a figure that has changed little since 2009. (Note: This and most data on the radio sector apply to all types of listening and do not break out news, except where noted.)

Weekly terrestrial radio listenership

Year

% of Americans ages 12 or older who listen to terrestrial (AM/FM) radio in a given week

2009

92%

2010

92%

2011

93%

2012

92%

2013

92%

2014

91%

2015

91%

2016

91%

Pew Research Center

According to “The Infinite Dial” report by Edison Research and Triton Digital, the portion of the public listening to online radio continues to grow. In 2017, 61% of Americans ages 12 or older have listened to online radio in the past month, while about half (53%) have listened in the past week. This is up from 57% and 50%, respectively, in 2016, continuing online radio’s steady year-over-year growth.

Online radio listenership

Year

Month

Week

2007

20%

12%

2008

21%

13%

2009

27%

17%

2010

27%

17%

2011

34%

22%

2012

39%

29%

2013

45%

33%

2014

47%

36%

2015

53%

44%

2016

57%

50%

2017

61%

53%

Pew Research Center

Nielsen lists news/talk/information among the most listened-to radio formats; in 2016, 9.6% of radio listeners tuned in to a news/talk/information station during any 15-minute period during the day

Most listened-to radio formats

Format

% of listeners

News/talk/information

9.6%

Pop contemporary hit radio

8.1%

Adult contemporary

7.5%

Country

7.4%

Hot adult contemporary

6.4%

Classic hits

5.3%

Classic rock

5.1%

Urban adult contemporary

4.8%

All sports

4.7%

Mexican regional

3.7%

Urban contemporary

3.7%

Pew Research Center

Online radio listening in cars, like listening to AM/FM stations online or streaming other online audio, continued its increase since 2010, when it was at just 6%. In 2017, 40% of U.S. cellphone owners have ever listened to online radio in a car using a phone.

Online radio listening in cars by cellphone owners

Year

% of U.S. cellphone owners who have ever listened to online radio in a car using a phone

2010

6%

2011

11%

2012

17%

2013

21%

2014

26%

2015

35%

2016

37%

2017

40%

Pew Research Center

The percentage of podcast listeners in America has substantially increased since 2006. In 2017, four-in-ten Americans ages 12 or older have ever listened to a podcast, according to Edison Research and Triton Digital survey data, and 24% have listened to a podcast in the past month, up from just 9% in 2008. (This chart, as well as the subsequent chart also about podcasts, applies to all types of listening and does not break out news; this is primarily related to ongoing technological challenges with compiling and centralizing metrics, making fine-grained breakouts by format difficult.)

Podcast listening

Year

Ever

In the past month

2006

11%

--

2007

13%

--

2008

18%

9%

2009

22%

11%

2010

23%

12%

2011

25%

12%

2012

29%

14%

2013

27%

12%

2014

30%

15%

2015

33%

17%

2016

36%

21%

2017

40%

24%

Pew Research Center

The average weekly unique users who download NPR podcasts, which include some of the most popular podcasts in the iTunes library such as Up First and TED Radio Hour, rose from 2.5 million in 2015 to 3.5 million in 2016, according to NPR data from Splunk. (More information will be available about public broadcasting in a future fact sheet.)

NPR podcast users

Year

Average weekly unique users who download NPR podcasts

2014

2,000,000

2015

2,500,000

2016

3,500,000

Pew Research Center

Economics

Average radio revenue remained steady in 2016 for radio stations in the major news formats, according to Pew Research Center analysis of BIA/Kelsey data. Over the last seven years, the average station revenue for these all-news stations has hovered between $16 and $19 million per year. (It is worth noting that only 20 of the 29 all-news stations currently listed in the BIA/Kelsey database have revenue data during any of these years and thus are the only ones included in the averages.)

Average revenue for stations in all-news, news/talk and news/talk/info formats is substantially lower than all-news – in 2016, $2.4 million per station. This likely stems from the fact that this category represents a much larger number of smaller stations (438 stations in the BIA/Kelsey database in this category have revenue data during any of these years).

All-News

News/Talk/Info

Year

Average station revenue

2009

$16,358,000

2010

$17,727,000

2011

$18,724,000

2012

$18,195,000

2013

$17,990,000

2014

$17,333,000

2015

$17,282,000

2016

$17,462,000

Pew Research Center

Year

Average station revenue

2009

$2,463,000

2010

$2,562,000

2011

$2,618,000

2012

$2,604,000

2013

$2,536,000

2014

$2,436,000

2015

$2,393,000

2016

$2,416,000

Pew Research Center

Ownership

As of 2017, there were 29 AM or FM stations that are categorized as “all-news” listed in the BIA/Kelsey database, down three from the last year. CBS Corp. (which recently announced plans to merge with Entercom) is currently the parent company of 10 of these 29 stations.

Number of all-news radio stations

Call

2014

2015

2016

CBS Corp.*

10

10

10

Hubbard Broadcasting Inc.

3

3

3

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.

2

2

2

Neal Ardman

2

2

2

Cox Media Group

2

2

2

Cumulus Media Inc.

2

2

2

Genesis Communications Network

2

2

1

Radio Free Moscow Inc.

1

1

1

Paskvan Media Inc.

1

1

1

Calvary Inc.

1

1

1

Times-Shamrock Communications

1

1

1

Talking Stick Communications LLC

1

1

1

CC Media Holdings Inc.

0

1

1

Jet Broadcasting Inc.

0

0

1

Bloomberg Communications Inc.

1

1

0

Empire Broadcasting Corp.

1

1

0

Maine Public Broadcasting Corp.

0

1

0

Radio One Inc.

1

0

0

Pew Research Center

Find out more

This fact sheet was compiled by Elisa Shearer, who is a research analyst focusing on journalism research at Pew Research Center.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.